


Places, Everyone!

by monaliight



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Cinderella Elements, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Persona 5 Spoilers, Shujin Academy (Persona 5), Slow Burn, Spoilers, but its an opera/ theatre, he doesnt talk alot, its in london BABY, like goro isnt even here yet slow burn, realllllllly slow burn, selective mute akira?, slightly mute akira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monaliight/pseuds/monaliight
Summary: Moving to London wasn’t Akira Kurusu’s plan, but it certainly was fate’s. If Akira Kurusu’s life's a stage, why not play the role?
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi onesided, Okumura Haru/Sakamoto Ryuji, Suzui Shiho/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. The Real Questions To Be Asked

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few words! This fic was inspired by caits amazing victorian concept au! It's loosely based on caits weird obsession with shuake and cinderella so we thought why not both? :) 
> 
> this is not historically correct by the way ...

Act 1

On a railway track spreading across the green countryside, there is a train station. And at this train station, many passengers are boarding the train on their voyage to the infamous city of London. They stored their luggage in the back of the train neatly stacked inside of the railcar and that was where thirteen-year-old Akira Kurusu hid, on his way to the big city. Being tight on money the dark-haired boy had no other option but to make his move to London through sneaking on railcars and freight trains. 

He had little luggage and next to no food, having to make the entire migration with a small loaf of bread that he had to spread throughout three days. It had taken quite a bit of work to sneak on this train but the payoff of being dropped directly into the heart of London was worth it, Akira had thought as he laid in the corner of the rail cart concealed snuggly behind two red buckled trunks. His stomach groaned for food and the pale boy reached around for his leather satchel that contained his few items. He fished around for a bit before taking out a tiny bit of stale bread. Taking small bites, Akira began to wonder what kind of opportunities London would hold for him, maybe he really could make a new life here? It was a new life with a clean slate somewhere no one would know who he is or what he's done. Perhaps this is just a blessing in disguise, he thought finishing his bread. Or maybe it's an entire hurricane inside of a tornado, one full of hammerhead sharks that are hiding neatly like Akira, behind the bright prospect of London. 

Akira sighed and sat up to face the rail car door and wondered if anyone would notice if he opened them to look out at the sky, he crept up the door and slowly unhinged it, gingerly pushing it open. ‘ _ Holy crap!’  _ His eyes widened in awe as he watched the twilight sky unfold before him. The stars twinkled brilliantly against the night and he felt himself relax a bit as he watched them from the speeding train. _ ‘The skies still the same from here’  _ he mused, an ache of homesickness formed in the pit of his stomach. ‘ _ Maybe it's not too late to return to them?’  _ He thought but immediately felt foolish. If there's one thing that's certain in this unpredictable place, it’s that he will never again see his parents or the home of his childhood.  _ ‘Do you think the moon’s following me…?’  _ He wonders to no one in particular.

Akira pulled his loose fawn coloured blazer closer towards him and pushed his feelings aside. ‘ _ Now was not the time to be moping about things in the past’  _ He concluded. ‘ _ Gotta plan for the future, I guess. What’s the word? Oh, a strategy?’ _

__ And thus Akira began to think about all he knew about the city he was headed towards. When he chose London all he had been thinking was that it was the nearest place where he knew that his reputation wouldn't precede him. 

_ ‘There’s probably a bunch of thieves in London, I’m sure I'll fit right in’  _ Thought the boy as he looked out of the travelling rail car. He lowered himself to the bottom of the railcar and tentatively let his legs over the side of it. _ ‘I can't exactly make a living out of thievery though, I’ll need a job’  _ He reminded himself. Akira knew that because of his mute demeanour getting one would be very difficult. ‘ _ I'll also need a place to stay and things to eat. The _ boy sighed,  _ those things only come with money, which meeeeeeans... I have to get a job first, huh...’  _ He sighed. ‘ _ Or maybe I could start a mafia, it’s basically level two of thievery right?’ _

__ Breathing in the crisp air, Akira gazed at the night sky and the millions of stars that had made their homes in it, the light from the full moon lightened him with a soft white hue as he picked a tiny star and thought to himself about an old folktale he had once read, about how if you wished on the tiny thing it is bound to come true. In that tiny railcar, Akira allowed himself one small smile upon remembering the myth. After he decided to close the door hatch, returning to his hiding spot among the red buckled trunks. As he laid down, the boy thought about the kind of possibilities that this new place might hold for him and while he drifted off to sleep, Akira quietly admitted to himself one wish to dream upon. ‘ _ Please let my life here be nothing like the one before….even if that means starting a mafia’ _

The raven-haired boy awoke the next morning blinded by the flashing sun and with a searing pain in his side. Quickly turning to face the looming train conductor, who must’ve found him sleeping amidst the luggage, shouting a spew of profanities at him. The crowds of people began to take notice of this and whispers hushed over along with a few bits of laughter. The train conductor must've also noticed, as he threw Akira's leather satchel at him, spit at his feet and turned to collect the rest of the railcar.  _ ‘Why thank you, sir! There’s nothing I love more than public humiliation with my morning coffee.’  _ Taking this as his leave, the raven gathered his things with his cheeks burning as people continued to watch him, before swiftly departing around the nearest corner. 

He quickly regretted this however as not only did this lead to a station that looked the same as before with its red brick walls and confusing mix of signs, the smell of the place finally began to register to him. A mix of pungent gas and putrid body odour filled his nostrils as people began to push him from all sides. _ ‘Ah yes a normal Monday morning, I just love that familiar smell of DEATH on my way to work!’  _ Overwhelmed, Akira makes his way towards the crimson bricked wall to avoid the steady stream of people. He pushed himself against it and started to straighten out his dark plaid pants and retie his burgundy neckerchief that rested around his white peter pan collar. 

Looking around the train station, there didn’t seem to be any exits he could take without the risk of being trampled alive. There was, however, an elegant looking Benjamin clock displayed for all to see on the wall. The time read around eight-thirty, which would explain why there was such a mess of people probably trying to get to work. ‘ _ Still,’  _ the raven thought to himself,  _ ‘There MUST be another place to get out.’  _ Fetching a pair of wire-rimmed glasses out of his satchel, Akira began to make his way against the sea of people, not straying too far from his protective wall. Scanning the station, he spotted a pair of double doors next to a lone food stand. Picking up the pace, the raven began a beeline for the doors until he smelled the sweet scent of freshly baked bread from the food stand. Stopping in his tracks with his hand poised on the handle, his empty stomach began to react to the delightful smell. 

Leaving the forgotten doors behind him, the boy began a slow pace towards the stand carefully, not trying to draw any attention towards himself. He hovered around the stand for a few minutes and tried to take in all the people around him, ‘ _ There's too many, I wouldn't get three steps with the bread before the owner took notice. Maybe I should just shout “Help! There’s a starving orphan boy who wants to eat today, please save me!” or something catchy.’  _ Akira was just about ready to give the whole plan up when he suddenly caught eyes with another boy his age across from him. They regarded each other, the boy had slightly tanned skin, only a shade off from his. His unruly blond hair spiked in odd directions and he wore black shorts, suspenders and a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The boy had a look of mischief plastered over his face and he gave Akira a tiny wave. Akira returned the gesture then slowly nodded his head towards the stand. The boy paused for a moment and glanced where Akira had pointed too then, returned to him with an even wider smile. ‘ _ Oho? A fellow thief? Do you think...’  _ He motioned for Akira to stand closer to the baker then started a hasty walk, with a particularly nasty limp noted by the raven, right into a security guard. 

“Hey! Watch where you're going kid’!” spit the guard stumbling back from the blow, 

“Me? Why don’t you watch where YOU’RE going, old man?! ” exclaimed the boy back, his slouched form turning towards the man. 

The people around the station began to gather and a few other guards made their way to the scene. ‘ _ What… ‘  _ Akira looked towards the stand owner to see them thoroughly distracted by the whole exchange, realization seeped into Akira as he silently took two hot loaves from the wooden crate and stuffed them under his blazer. The stand owner noticed nothing. Akira began to turn towards the doors when he noticed that the guards were beginning to act aggressively towards his new friend. ‘ _ That doesn’t seem good _ .’ The raven frowned and he made a rapid scan across the station looking for anything that could provide a good distraction. 

Suddenly he came upon an empty train with steam still pouring out of its chimney. An evil plan formed in the ravens head ‘ _ Perfect.’  _ he thought, a smug smile forming on his lips. Akira started a hurried walk towards the train conductors window, jumping daringly upon the train and climbing to the window of the locomotive. Leaning into the conductor’s window the raven-haired boy just barely grabbed onto the narrow string connected to the train whistle. 

The whistle blew and Akira threw his hands over his ears in surprise at the piercing noise, losing his footing in the process. ‘ _ This is it, this is where I die... all for two pieces of sourdough.’ _ He fell harshly on his behind and started his swift return back to the double doors, stealing a glance at the crowd. The guards made their way through it, leaving their forgotten exchange with his blond friend behind them towards the empty locomotive. Akira paused for a moment and tried to find his thieving companion within the mob of people. He came up empty and thought momentarily about going to look for him before deciding against it. ‘ _ I shouldn’t, no one noticed me jump on after all _ ,’ concluded the boy, ‘ _ Better not risk it.’  _ And with that, the raven pushed back the heavy doors and came face to face with the enormous city of London.

The city, to put it plainly, was nothing like young Akira expected it to be like. So far he had been assaulted, robbed a bread stand with a mysterious boy and trespassed on about four trains so far. Not to mention that he was utterly and completely lost within the cities neverending streets of cobblestone and tall bricked row houses.  _ ‘Go me!’ _ Akira thinks.

He had eaten his way through his bread loaf, which had gotten crushed during his fall from the train, but kept the second one tucked deep within his satchel in the case that he might meet with his new friend again. 

The raven sighed as he turned down another alleyway that looked the same as the three others he had turned within the hour. ‘ _ Maybe I should start leaving a trail of breadcrumbs..’ _ Sitting down against the wall, he was being careful to avoid the stains on the dirty ground that looked suspiciously like blood. He tried to think of what he might do now that he had finally made it to London. ‘ _ I guess there is nothing to do besides look for work,’  _ he sighed to himself, ‘ _ but where exactly would I find a job? I have no clue where I am.’  _ Suddenly a giant bang rang out of nowhere, startling Akira out of his resting place.

‘ _ What the-?’  _ The bang repeated itself again and as he calmed down a bit he began a slow walk towards the mysterious noise. ‘ _ Is this, perhaps, the grim reaper leading me to my death? Oh… I might be dying.’ _

Once again, he heard a sharp bang, but this time Akira could see exactly what it was. In front of the raven expanded a street full of activity. The wind blew against his dark curly hair, leaves blowing down the street. Giant brick roads with half a dozen horse-drawn carriages journeying down it stood in the middle with streets lined with shops selling things from the clothing of fine silk to shiny leather shoes and in the distance he could make out a great clock tower! Entranced by this discovery, Akira found himself turning his head in all directions while walking down the sidewalk, trying to take everything in at once. No books Akira had ever read truly encaptured the feeling he got making his way down the walkway in this strange place and a small bit of hope formed in him. Yes, perhaps the city had its many downsides but looking at this bustling street he thought of the endless possibilities it might hold for him. And, he lets out his first sigh of relief. 


	2. Flap Of The Butterfly's Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pissing off rich people, London jobs, strange insects and fighting random old men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: semi-graphic depictions of violence. Sexual Assault/ assault in general. These parts of the chapter will start and end with /////

By the time the raven finished his wandering, it was well after sunset. He found himself in a small park illuminated gently by the soft golden glow of the candlelit lamp posts. The night provided a nice chill in contrast to the warm spring day, and Akira found himself once again pulling his blazer closer to him. He walked down the dirt path through a mix of oak trees with blooming spuds, bushes and a small assortment of flowers beginning to sprout again after the long winter. The boy's legs began to drag and his eyes had a harder time focussing as a wave of drowsiness washed over him. Walking up to a bench, the young boy sat down and took his surroundings in; he was quite well hidden within these trees but he might run into trouble if someone were to take the same path he did. In the end, he discarded his worries, ‘If anything, I get a semi-comfortable sleep AND I get to piss off some posh aristocrat? It's a double whammy.' The raven rested his head on the cool wood with sleep slowly overtaking him. 

The next day, he awoke to the powerful bang of the giant clock he heard the day before, accompanied by many dirty looks from the well-dressed people on their morning walk through the park. ‘What, is it my attire? Or the fact that I woke up on a park bench? Oh, so sorry that I’m not as rich as you all.’

One woman, in particular, was sending nasty glares his way but it appeared to be keeping a safe distance from him. ‘Do you suppose if I yelled “boo!” she would run from me? 

He finished off the rest of his loaf from yesterday's plight and began to remake himself to be presentable; After all, he was to find a job today. The raven ran a hand through his unruly hair and went to straighten his jacket and suspenders. 

Today was a big day; Finally, it was his turn to begin his new life in London. The day went by swiftly as he finished the rest of his loaf and tried fruitlessly to find a job that didn't require a voice. Days past, and it seemed no matter how hard he looked there was never a job for him. In his second week, he had finally begun a shoe-shining job but it didn't last long and Akira found himself once again jobless.

\--Sleeping within alleys and stealing his meals, Akira started to lose hope, ‘Maybe London doesn’t have as much potential as I thought it would... I don't even think I’d be able to start a mafia at this point...’ he thought, ‘But it's not as if I can return back to my parents, it’s a tad too late, huh...’ The raven sighed as he slowly roamed a stray boardwalk late during the night, listening to the soft waves crash into each other. Akira inhaled the humid air and knew that rain would soon be coming; He would need to seek some shelter, lest he catches a cold. The lamp posts provided their familiar light and Akira could dimly make out what appeared to be a couple in the distance. Continuing his gloomy stroll, the raven wondered if perhaps he could use what little money he still had leftover to get on a train to somewhere, preferably with more job positions and kinder citizens. ‘Call me a country bumpkin but I think people take theft way too seriously here.’ Somewhere though, in the corner of his eye, a shade of azure pierced the dark boardwalk. Akira sputtered as he watched the extremely out of place blue light take form into an alarmingly large azure monarch. The butterfly swirled around the raven, whose eyes followed the tiny thing, transfixed on its light. The monarch started flying down the boardwalk right towards the couple.

//////////////////////

The couple began to stir a bit and the girl started to raise her voice. Akira gave them an annoyed stare ‘You dare interrupt my sulking with your couple quarrel?’ until he realized that something didn't feel right. Forgetting about the butterfly, he strained his ears and started to make out the terrified voice of a young girl. 

“No!” The young girl sobbed.  
“Don’t give me that shit” slurred the older man, clearly very intoxicated. 

He began to corner the girl into the railing. She struggled against him, her auburn hair flying wildly in the wind as she wailed a desperate plea for help. Cool rain fell on the boardwalk as Akira made to go over to the scene, the raven stopped for a moment, ‘That girl… she’s in trouble…’  
The man advanced on the struggling girl. ‘Damn it all!’ thought Akira and he placed his hand roughly on the older man's shoulder. 

“Leave her alone!” he said sternly, raising his voice louder than he’d normally. 

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Barked the man, turning to face Akira. He was definitely much older than her, maybe in his thirties. 

He was beginning to bald and a few strands of thin brown hair fell onto his face, one contorted with pure rage. The man grabbed Akira’s hand and violently shoved him away. Even though the boardwalk was now slippery with rain, the brave young one managed to keep his footing. 

He repeated himself again, “Leave her alone...”

This seemed to anger the man further and he began to shout at him.

“Listen, kid,” the man spat “ I haven't got time for your little hero moment, so get lost!”.  
Behind him, the girl tried to quietly make a break for it, but the man soon took notice and seized her wrist, tugging her to him. 

“Where do you think you're going?” He cooed. Red hot anger seeped into Akira at the sight of him pulling the girl and he put himself firmly between them, pouring all his venom into his words. ‘Just who does this guy think he is?!’

“ Get away from her!” The old man stumbled back, clearly not expecting this from the boy, and landed hard on the boardwalk. He slowly turned his head to Akira and wore a murderous look.

“Damn brat... I’ll ruin you.” The man spat out. Behind him two watch guards Akira hadn't noticed before, who were making their way over to see what all the shouting was about. 

Panic arose in Akira. On instinct, he quickly took the hand of the auburn-haired girl and prepared to sprint. He could hear the older man behind him, yelling at the guards to follow them as he pulled them both into an alleyway. Surprised to see that he recognized it, Akira and the girl entangled themselves in the alleyways labyrinth and only after they couldn't hear the thundering steps behind them did they stop. 

“Quickly, you need to leave, take the next two left turns and then one right,” muttered Akira frantically. “It leads to the main street, there are more people there, you should be able to make it back to your home safely.” 

The auburn girl gave him an alert nod, then turned to leave hitching up her deep red gown. She peered behind her and then gave him a small smile

“Thank you so so much...I won't forget this!” she whispered, then started a nimble run down the left corner. 

As the raven was just about to make his way down the right corner when he heard the harsh footsteps coming. He began to run but slipped in a puddle from the now downpouring rain. ‘No.. ‘ The boy made to get up but a painful blow to his rib cage kept him there. Akira rolled over and looked at the guards, clutching his bruised chest. 

“Was it worth it, kid?” laughed one of them. Soon, they cornered him, and with nowhere to escape, the raven struggled against his assaulters as the rain fell down around him in the dark alley. 

After the guards began to grow bored, they left the young boy there laying on the ground, beaten and bloody. Akira watches as his blood taints the cobblestone, and the residue was washed away slowly by the rain. The pain inside Akira was that of which he had never felt before. It burned inside of him like a flickering flame, consuming his insides. After a while, he attempted to lift himself up but only managed to shakily sit up and lean against the wall. His eyes were watering, but he willed himself not to cry. 

///////////

The ravens head was swimming, and his vision was entirely blurred. Akira closed his eyes and tried to control his ragged breathing and shivering. The rain had stopped a few hours ago but the mild wind seemed to run straight through his soaked clothing, chilling him to the bone. ‘I can't stay here... I need to….. I need to... Do something’ 

He pulled his knees up to his chest in an effort to conserve as little warmth he still had left and decided in his woozy head that the best thing was to wait out whatever was happening to him. The wetness of his clothing amplified the freezing night air and it seemed no matter how hard he tried to keep warm, the wind seemed to blow right through him. Faintly in the back of his mind, he could hear footsteps coming towards him, panic welled up in his stomach at the thought that perhaps the guards had returned. The footsteps came nearer and stopped beside the hurt boy, ‘Crap... I need to get out of here. But my legs. It hurts… Do I even have the energy to run?’, he thought to himself. But the raven knew that even if he managed to get up, he would be too weak to even make it around the corner. Accepting his fate, he gave in to the exhaustion and flopped back down, holding his sides like they were going to fall apart. Firm hands hooked under his arms dragged him across the rugged cobblestone. 

‘Wh-what… What’s happening? Who-’ All the adrenaline from running had totally left his body, feeling a wave of nausea leave his body and his stomach dropping. Holding in all urges to just expel all of his bodily fluids onto this one stranger, he decided that trying to wiggle himself out of this situation would be more beneficial to him and this stranger. Even though Akira was terrified beyond words, he didn’t feel in danger at the touch of this unfamiliar set of hands. ‘Am I being kidnapped?!.’ He thought to himself. 

Akira muttered a small complaint that was more of a soft grunt and the voice above him shushed him lightly. After awhile the arms propped him up against a new wall and clever hands set about cleaning his face with a cloth of sorts. Akira's eyes could barely make out the figure kneeling in front of him, much less the constant muttering that came from them. The raven shakily raised his hand to push them away but was roughly pushed aside, with another wave of annoyed muttering. 

“Stop that--” hissed the voice annoyingly along with some other words Akira didn’t quite catch. 

His head was pounding now and he gave up trying to pathetically fight off whoever was trying to…. Help him? So he sat quietly and closed his eyes, occasionally the voice would quiet down and Akira would think they’d left but they returned back to cleaning, a bit more frenzied. The voice hushed again and Akira expected them to resume their work but instead he heard them walk somewhere lightly. The raven attempted to look at what was happening but through his still washed out vision could only make out the figures brunette hair and their tall stature. The figure appeared to have heard something and grumbled a profanity before taking off down the alley, not looking back. As the figure escaped they dropped the white cloth they'd been using to clean Akira with, the raven took the cloth and ran it between his fingers. The fabric was weightless and felt smooth on his calloused hand. Akira closed his eyes again and slowly let the darkness overcome him, still clinging to the tiny cloth. 

In his stupor, the familiar azure blue closed all around him before quickly disappearing as new inaudible voices came near him. They asked something of him but the raven didn’t answer, their voices took him in their arms but he didn’t struggle, he let them take him as he slowly fell into his subconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow us!
> 
> @monaliight on insta and tumbler
> 
> @dreamingcait (shes the one who does all the art!!) on insta and tumbler

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to my bff @dreaming.cait on insta, you have pretty good fic ideas and thank you sm for being my beta reader and doing all the wonderful art! (Seriously tho dude I couldn't have done it without you, thank you for being so supportive <3 ) and I'm ( not ) sorry for constantly yelling at you to stay focused :) 
> 
> If you have anything you want to ask (or would like to drop a follow to see our other work ;) ) contact us at:  
> @dreamingcait on insta and tumblr
> 
> @monaliight on insta and tumblr ( I'm more active on tumblr)


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